"Five years ago, Jalisco had 2,200 certified hectares of avocado; now, the state has 14,000," stated Hector Padilla Gutierrez, the head of the Ministry of Rural Development in Jalisco. Padilla Gutierrez also said he was confident that Jalisco would be able to continue exporting avocado to the US, thanks to the certifications and the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), as the state currently only exports this product to Canada, Japan, Europe, Central and South America, and the Middle East.
"The Mexican negotiators managed to overcome the limitations that the United States wanted to apply, the most worrisome of which seasonality, i.e. having the ability to veto Mexican exports when they have an important production volume."
He also stressed that the renegotiation of the NAFTA included the exchange of technology and scientific knowledge, which is good news for the field and in particular for avocado producers.
"Our people have complied with all the requirements for last two or three years. The problem is not technical, it is not even about the agreement, it is fundamentally a lack of political will from the United States government because even when we've complied with everything they won't let our product enter the US at the border," he said.
Source: eloccidental.com.mx